Nikoloz Basilashvili reaches Lyon ATP tournament semifinal

Georgia's leading tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili will face World No 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in semifinal of the ATP Open Lyon after defeating Argentina's Nicolas Kicker in the tournament earlier today.

Basilashvili knocked out Kicker (ranked 94th) with a final score 6-3, 6-1 to earn his spot in the semifinal, set to played on Friday.

Kicker had earlier grabbed headlines with his win against World No 19 Nick Kyrgios in the Last 16 round.

Earlier this week Basilashvili posted a photo of himself with Tsonga in Lyon. Photo: Nikoloz Basilashvili Facebook page.

The Georgian, with ATP singles ranking of 71st, will face the competition's second seed Tsonga, with the winner set to advance to the final at Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, in the eastern French city.

The Georgian will be looking to reach his third Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament final in Lyon, after finishing second in the most recent final in the Memphis Open in February.

The other semifinal of the Lyon competition will be played between tournament's top seed Milos Raonic and either third seed Tomas Berdych or fifth seed Gilles Simon, whose quarterfinal match is set to be played later today.

Launched on May 21, the ATP event is played on clay surface and will finish with the final match on May 27.